Aqours Chapter 30
Our Light Show We love light shows! Maybe we can make our own? {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" ! colspan="1" style="text-align:center;" width="650px" | Story 1 |- |'Chika': *Sigh* Tokyo winters are so trendy. They're so lucky. Riko: What’re you looking at Chika? Hanamaru: Looks like a Tokyo guidebook, zura. It says, “Special evening illumination issue.” You: They even have dinner cruises in Tokyo Bay! I’ve always thought of cruises as a summer activity. That looks like fun! Kanan: The water in the bay’s nice and calm. I bet the lights look spectacular from a boat. The cruise is probably very popular. Ruby: A party on the deck of a white boat at Christmas time. How romantic! Oh, look, Dia! They have pleasure boats, too! Dia: I also thought of cruises as summertime activities, but I see they offer sailing on pleasure boats during the winter, too. Mari: It’d be wonderful to ride in a kimono instead of just a yukata. Why don’t we give it a shot? Yoshiko: It’s tempting, but the costs must be through the roof. Chika: *Sigh* You’re right. Not being able to go whenever I want makes Tokyo that much more alluring… Riko: B-But daydreaming can be fun, too. You don’t see guidebooks talking about how the huge crowds make it hard to walk around. Hanamaru: I’m happy just picturing it, zura! I think reading a book and getting lost in the world of your imagination can be as fun as the real thing, zura. Ruby: Yeah, yeah! Whenever I’m reading a good book, I can’t help but get pulled into its world. Riko: That happens to me, in a way. When I’m playing the piano, I start thinking about the country where the piece was composed. Yoshiko: Thanks for the reminder. I, Yohane, mustn’t be remiss in contacting my kin who remained behind in the faraway lands. Hanamaru: Yoshiko, you really care about your shtick, zura. Yoshiko: Don’t call it a shtick! I’m very busy hopping back and forth between the human and demon worlds! You: When I see a big boat, I imagine what waters it has sailed to get where it is. Chika: Still, seeing the city lit up from a cruise ship… No, even just walking around in the lights would be so much fun. Dia: If we’re talking about beautiful views, the sights in Hakodate were quite lovely. Kanan: It was nice seeing a new place. Going around to all the different towns and walking under their lights was a great time. Mari: Hee, hee. All the live shows were so awesome, the scenery looked especially shiny! Chika: It really was gorgeous, seeing those lights shine against the night sky. Riko, what does it feel like to see the Tokyo illumination in person? Riko: What does it feel like? Umm, I don’t know how to describe it. I think the guidebook would have more to say than me. Chika: I was just wondering what you see when you close your eyes and picture Tokyo all lit up, that’s all. Riko: In Tokyo, they start putting up lights after Halloween. Seeing them always drove home the idea that winter was on its way. Kanan: I see. I guess the biggest events before Christmas would be for Halloween. That’d be fun to see, too! Yoshiko: A one-night-only event where my brethren come to the surface and mingle with humans. Mu, ha, ha. Ruby: Eeek! I don’t like scary things. Hanamaru: Yoshiko, I bet in your world, Christmas is a time for the fallen angel Yohane to descend on the holiest of nights! Something like that, right, zura? Yoshiko: How’d you know?! Are you psychic? Mari: Autumn and winter nights in Tokyo are especially romantic. You: You don’t see big light displays living in Uchiura. Does it feel like part of everyday life in Tokyo? Riko: Everyday life, huh? Maybe so. Akihabara in the winter is very lively. My favorite was going to see the Christmas tree light-up at UTX High School. Chika: What else? What’re the lights like in Shinjuku? Riko: I didn’t go to Shinjuku much, but I can tell you about Ikebukuro. Yoshiko: That’s my Lili! You don’t forget about ‘Bukuro! Riko: Umm, uhh, well, the trees along the streets would be lit up, and there’d be beautiful pieces of art in front of the station. They were very pretty. Hanamaru: Lights, art, it all sounds like a dream, zura! Tokyo really is the cutting edge of trendiness, isn’t it? Ruby: I bet it’d be easy to get lost, but I’d love to go anyway. Dia: I’ll make sure to hold your hand so that doesn’t happen, Ruby. Riko: Talking about it has made me feel like I’ve just seen those captivating lights. Maybe I’ll write a song about them? Chika: Me too! I bet seeing those lights would inspire the loveliest lyrics!  Hanamaru: I’m sure it’d be a romantic tune, zura. Mari: Then we’ll want to have Chika add her sweet lyrics on top of that tune, right? Riko: Th-That might be a little embarrassing. Kanan: If it’s inspired by the Tokyo lights, I’m sure it’d be a very special song. Dia: And a song that would surely evoke thoughts of loved ones. The meaning might even change depending on who you wish you could see the lights with. Chika: Well, I wish I could see the lights with Aqours. I’m picturing us all walking through a sea of twinkling stars. You: Kinda sounds like how the audience looks from up on stage. Riko: That’s a good analogy! It’s a scene that’s full of hopes and dreams. If I went to see them now, it might feel like something special after all. Chika: I’m sure it would! That settles it, I wanna see the Tokyo illuminations in person! Riko, you gotta take us! Kanan: That’s easier said than done. Chika: Hey, I know! Can’t we apply to do a Christmas live show somewhere? You: I did some research, but the application periods are closed for everything I saw. Chika: Can we not even do a day trip? I’m sure we could at least afford round-trip train fare. Ruby: With as late as we’d have to stay, I’d be worried about missing the last train home. Dia: The real show isn’t until nighttime. If you want to get the full effect, we’d be much safer staying overnight. Chika: *Whine* I guess it’s gonna be too hard to make this work. *Sigh* I wish we had something like that here in Uchiura. Mari: Then why don’t we just do it ourselves? You: Huh?! Is that even possible? Mari: Of course! I know just the place. Kanan: There’s somewhere we can do a light show in Uchiura? Oh, wait. You’ve already got a plan, don’t you, Mari? Chika: Tell us, Mari! Mari: It’s almost Christmas. Why don’t we illuminate our school with homemade decorations? Hanamaru: I-Illuminations at school? It’s the future, zura! Ruby: Homemade lights? That sounds so exciting! Dia: The student body would definitely enjoy it, too. I think it’s a great plan. Chika: Nice idea, Mari! Let’s dress up our school and make it shine! Together: Yeah! |} {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" ! colspan="1" style="text-align:center;" width="650px" | Story 2 |- |'Chika': I'm here, everyone! Sorry I'm late! You: Good morning, Chika. Wow, that’s huge box of stuff you’ve got there. Chika: *Giggle* I was so excited for our discussion, I got all kinds of books and pamphlets on light ups. It’d be nice if we could hang snow globes, too! Riko: Uchiura doesn’t get much snow, so it’d be fun if we had lots of sew-themed decorations. Hanamaru: Snow and lights are such an ideal pairing, zura! Ruby: Leah told me that they have lights all along Hakodate Bay. She said they blend in perfectly with the snow at night, and that it’s very beautiful. Yoshiko: Speaking of Hakodate, I’d love to do something modeled after the star illumination of Goryokaku. Hanamaru: Making a circle to summon more little demons, zura? Yoshiko: Mu, ha, ha. I’ll draw an even bidder circle and summon a huge little demon, Zuramaru! I expect I can count on all my little demons to help, right? Mari: If we’re modeling decorations after Goryokaku, I’m sure we can create some beautiful, shiny star lights! Dia: Yes. Putting aside the whole summoning plan, it would really make for a lovely atmosphere. Kanan: If we’re making them for the school, we should have some Uchiura Sea-themed lights, too. I think a soft blue glow would be really pretty. Mari: With colorful little fish swimming through the sea of light? That’s be so cute!  Chika: Remember, these are Christmas lights. We’ll need to get a big Christmas tree. We can trim with lots of snowflake decorations!  'You': That would definitely put everyone in the Christmas spirit!  'Mari': As this is a school-wide event, we should invite everyone to make their own decorations and out them up. Dia: They would love that. We could even open it to the locals so that people could drop in as they please to see the show. Kanan: Good idea. I bet the little kids would especially be happy. Chika: Well, we’ve got lots of ideas and a solid theme. Hopefully we can make ours as pretty as the scenes in these magazines. Like Hakodate, or Shinjuku! Ruby: Eeek! Hanamaru: Ruby, what’s wrong, zura? Ruby: Leah just texted me. She says the Hakodate light show has over a million LEDs! You: A-And Shinjuku has over three million. Riko: I guess when you have a larger area to cover, you need lots of bulbs and LEDs. Chika: There’s no way we can get that many! Dia: Especially if we’re doing a handmade light show. It’ll be difficult to make something on that scale. Kanan: We’ve got nine people working on this. Let’s put our heads together and figure out what we can do. Chika: I know! What about the lights they use on fishing boats? You: They’re a little too big and bright. I don’t think they’re suited for this kind of light show. Hanamaru: Oh, can we use Christmas lights? Maybe people in the neighborhood will let us borrow theirs. Ruby: We’ve got pink and white Christmas lights back at our house. They’re really pretty, right Dia? Dia: Yes! They’re designed to be taken off the tree after Christmas, so they’d be perfect for our show. Kanan: I’ll see if I’ve got anything at my house we can use. Mari: I can bring a huge tree from my place! Yoshiko: You’ll need Yohane’s ceremonial tools. They’re yours to use as you see fit, little demons. Riko: We should make the snow-themed decorations by hand. You: I’ve got leftover fabric and ribbons from making costumes. Maybe we could make something cute to act as our mascot? Ruby: Something fluffy, like snow, but with lots of ribbons tied on. That’d be adorable! Mari: Sounds very cute and oh so precious! Maybe Santa himself will show up! Hanamaru: We can turn the school into a storybook world, zura. I’m so excited, I can’t sit still, zura! Chika: I can’t wait to get started! First we need the tree, then Yoshiko’s magic circle, then lights that represent the Uchiura Sea! Yoshiko: If we can’t use modern lights, we’ll need to tap into more ancient powers. Riko: Do you have something in mind, Yoshiko? Yoshiko: Yes. The fallen angel Yohane shall bequeath her Hellfire unto all of you. Mari: Hellfire on the holy night, huh? Just hearing it has me feeling a bit guilty. Ruby: I hope it’s not too scary. Hanamaru: I think Yoshiko’s Hellfire is actually candles, zura. Chika: Of course! You always use candles in your videos, right Yoshiko? Yoshiko: You mean the marvelous ritual where I communicate directly with my little demons? …Wait a sec, how did you know that?!  Hanamaru: You’re more popular than you think, zura. Dia: I think candles are a great solution. Unfortunately, bringing a lot of them into the school could be problematic. Kanan: Light shows and illuminations are usually held outdoors. Can we just do it in the courtyard? Mari: That’s the idea! We’ll deck out the whole courtyard and make it into the cutest Christmas illumination ever! You: Powered by candles, no less. It’s going to look so glamorous. We’ll need as many as we can get our hands on. Riko: We could put them in old glass cups and jelly jars. I’ll go see if there are any glass containers that will work. Chika: Me too! I’ll go ask Shima and Mito and see what I can get. Kanan: I think we’ve got some old glass floats at home. Let me see if any of them will work with candles. Mari: I’m sure if I tell the kitchen staff about our need for empty jam jars, they’d be happy to spare what they can. I’ll start stocking up right away! Dia: I’ll look for glass containers as well. And on that note, I think we’ve just about solidified our plans for the light show. Chika: We’re going to have the most dazzling illuminations people have ever seen. I can’t wait to put them up! Ruby: I’m excited about trimming the Christmas tree! Yoshiko: And Yohane looks forward to drawing a gigantic magic circle. You: Since we’re going through so much effort, it’d be nice if we could leave things up for a few days, like the Tokyo illuminations. Hanamaru: I wanna see them from up on the roof, zura! Mari: *Giggle* Leave all the applications to me. We’re going to have a wonderful night of lights that are packed full of all your dreams! |} {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" ! colspan="1" style="text-align:center;" width="650px" | Story 4 |- |'Hanamaru': We're ending the day on a good note, zura. Look at that gorgeous sunset, zura! Ruby: We’re lucky to have such nice weather. There’s not a cloud in the sky. We might even be able to see the stars! Yoshiko: A joint performance between our illuminations and the stars themselves. Yohane will be brimming with magic power. Riko: In Tokyo, your eyes naturally go to the lights. Setting our against a starry sky is something original. Kanan: Mars is very clear tonight, too! At this rate, we’ll be able to see lots of stars once the sun goes down. Mari: And the land is studded with beautiful, shiny star lights, too! Dia: Yes! Thanks to other students pitching in, we were able to decorate the courtyard with lots of candles. Chika: And that huge Christmas tree you brought in is an attraction all by itself, Mari. *Giggle* Lots of people are taking their pictures by it!  You: We put up lots of Christmas decorations, too. The Christmas spirit is alive and well at Uranohoshi! Ruby: I bet the LED lights reflect off the shiny wrapping paper on the presents. It must look so pretty! Hanamaru: With a tree that big, Santa might even come by and leave presents for us in our stockings. Yoshiko: Yohane has already completed that particular quest. Chika: Huh? Really?! Oh, look, everyone! I got candy! Little Christmas tree and Santa candies! Riko: I got lots of colorful star candies in mine. Yoshiko, did you go around putting something in everyone’s stockings? Yoshiko: I’ve got other surprises prepared for when the little kids start showing up. Hanamaru: A fallen angel who hands out gifts at Christmas, zura? You: Yoshiko’s a kind person who pays a lot of attention to the little details. We should all play Santa! Yoshiko: I-It must be vestiges from my time as a true angel. Hanamaru: Yoshiko, are you blushing, zura? Ruby: I brought cookies to hand out as gifts, too. I’ll sneak them into everyone’s stockings. Hee, hee! I love surprises like this! Kanan: Oh, looks like the sun’s gone down past the horizon. That means it’s about time for us to start lighting things up. Chika: Yeah! Let’s split up and start lighting those candles! Together: Yeah! Chika: Everyone, come quick! Kanan: Chika, slow down before you trip! Riko: *Giggle* You’re beaming, Chika. You: Because I’ve always loved the Tokyo lights! And now we’ve made our own light show right here in Uchiura. I’m just really, really proud. Dia: The Tokyo lights are spectacular, but I think ours are just as lovely of a sight. Mari: Looking down from the roof like this, it feels as though the starry skies have come down to our school courtyard. Hanamaru: Ooh! What a romantic view, zura! And Mari, that was a beautiful metaphor, zura. Ruby: It really is pretty. Later, we should tell everyone about the view from up here. Yoshiko: Mu, ha, ha. With scenery like this, the wandering souls of my brethren may even gather here. The time for a legendary giant little demon summoning is nigh! Riko: Regardless of the size of the little demons, the scale of your imagination is definitely huge. Kanan: Combining our knowledge during the preparation phase really paid off. Mari: Tonight’s become a really shiny evening! I could stay up here and look at it forever. Dia: I feel the same way. In fact, I think we’ve earned ourselves a little respite. Why don’t we relax up here and enjoy the scenery for a while? Ruby: We thought it might get cold, so Dia and I made some non-alcoholic sweet sake. Mari: Thank you! That’s a funny coincidence. I brought some non-alcoholic mulled wine! Chika: Thanks, you all! I bet these’ll warm us right up! Hanamaru: Mm-mmm! I taste ginger in the sweet sake. I’m getting warmer already, zura! Kanan: Mari’s mulled wine-style grape juice is great, too. I feel kinda grown-up drinking it! Yoshiko: Suitable drinks all for a fallen angel’s banquet of light. I’ll drink deeply from these cups! Mmm. I can taste the magic power this will grant me. You: Yummy, yummy. Is there cinnamon or some other kind of spice in here? This doesn’t taste like anything you can get off the shelf. It’s really tasty! Chika: Can I have a sip, You? I’ll trade you some of my sweet sake. *Gasp* I sense mikan orange! Riko: Mulled wine is usually made with orange. Mari must have used mikan oranges in hers. Mari: I got my hands on some fresh mikan oranges, so I used them instead of the regular kind. Looks like I made the right call! Dia: It was definitely a smart move. The sweetness and acidity are balanced in perfect harmony. You: Dia and Ruby’s sweet sake is awesome, too. It’s the kind of sweetness that mellows you out. Chika: Ahh, I’m so lucky. Riko: What do you mean, Chika? Chika: It’s such a perfect moment, us looking down at these beautiful lights together. Hanamaru: I’m so glad we decided to make our own lights, zura. And we got to see it all right here at home, without going to Tokyo. It’s like a dream come to life, zura. Ruby: Everyone else at school did a great job on their lights and candles, too. There’s a whole rainbow of colors twinkling down there. Kanan: From up here, the Uchiura Sea-themed area looks like there’s a school of fish swimming around. It wouldn’t have been this good without everyone’s ideas! Mari: The empty can candle holders are nice accents, too. We all drew some really nice designs. Riko: Like Dia said, the Tokyo lights are spectacular, but I could look at these ones that we made all night. It really is like the stars have come down to Earth. Yoshiko: In a sense, they’re newcomers whose arrival Yohane has long awaited. Whoa, a shooting star! Hanamaru: Aww, another one disappeared before I could make a wish, zura! Mari: Hee, hee. The sky’s clear enough that we might see more before long. Or maybe we should go make our own shooting star right now? Kanan: I like it! Let’s go draw a big shooting star right in the middle of the courtyard! Together: We’re in! |} Category:Story Category:Aqours